EDUCATING NINA (1984) ** ½

Nina Hartley and her friends put out a personal ad offering to act out people’s kinkiest desires.  They then videotape the fantasies and sell them directly to the customer.  It’s all under the guise of a college study of sexuality, but we know it’s just a way for Nina and her pals to get their rocks off.  

The first scene has a guy watching his wife (Karen Summer) get it on with their maid (Nina) while he eats his breakfast in bed.  Nina looks hot in her outfit, although she doesn’t stay in it for very long.  Summer and Hartley are clearly enjoying themselves and their chemistry helps to elevate this scene, which is the easily the best of the bunch.

In the next sequence, Nina goes to a strip club where the dancer pulls her up on stage, strips her down, and bangs her in front of the entire club.  Nina is hot once she finally is able to do her thing.  (I liked it when she looked directly at the camera while performing oral.)  Unfortunately, the stuff with the male dancer strutting around the club and collecting tips just goes on far too long.  Besides, the sight of his legwarmers alone is enough to keep anyone from getting a chub.

A guy comes home early from work and finds his wife getting double teamed by two gardeners in the next scene.  Naturally, he doesn’t get mad.  He’s actually proud of her!  This scene has a nice unrushed feel and features a foxy turn by Lili Marlene as the sex-starved housewife.

Karen Summer appears once again in the next sequence.  She seduces a jogger in the park and takes him back to the ladies’ locker room for a quick romp.  Summer’s enthusiasm is infectious, but that doesn’t disguise the fact that this is a fairly ordinary scene in just about every way.

In the last scene, a phone sex caller gets his wish when he gets it on with Juliet Anderson (who also directed) and Marlene.  This scene has a good set-up, but it’s undone by some truly shitty camerawork.  Juliet must’ve been too busy having fun in front of the camera to worry about quality control behind it.

Educating Nina has all the quirks (I hesitate to use the word “charms”) of an early ‘80s production.  The camerawork is cheap, and the editing is rough in places.  The music sounds like it came out of a local morning talk show, and the computer-generated titles are chintzy.  Still, as an early look at a legend in the making, it’s sort of fun.  Hartley is quite hot here, and she’d only get better as time went on.  So, if you’re a fan of Nina, you’ll probably want to check out the flick that got the ball rolling on her long-lasting career.